Frank crawford



(No Model.)

F. CRAWFORD.

SAFE.

No. 502,953. i Patented, Aug., 8,1 .1893.

.INVENTOH l 0. .f 'wzT/vEssEs.-

z2 faam 3f 1 i 426 mi,

1, Afro/mers.

UNITED STATESV PATENT OFFICE.

FRANK CRAWFORD, OF NORTH URBANA, NEW YORK.

SAFE.`

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters PatentNo. 502,953, dated August 8, 1893. Application filed May 2, 1893. Serial No. 472,738. (No model.)

To all whom t may concern.-

Be itknown that I, FRANK CRAWFORD, of North Urbana, in the county of Steuben and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Safes, of which the followingis a full, clear, and exact description.

My invention relates to an improvement in safes, and especially to an improvement in safe doors, and it has for its object to provide a door so constructed that in the event the door should be drilled through to insert an explosive therein or for the purpose of reaching the bolt mechanism, an alarm will be sounded after the drill has proceeded a pre'- determined distance, the alarm being in the nature of an exploded cartridge; or whereby the explosive employed may be so powerful, that when exploded the front of the door will be blown out and either kill or seriously injure the man operating the drill.

A further object of the invention is to provide a means whereby when the door of the safe is locked, a cartridge will be automatically presented to a hammer to be acted upon by the hammer, and whereby further when the door is opened in a proper manner the rearward movement of the bolt will remove the cartridge out of the path ofthe hammer, thus insuring safety to the manipulator of the door.

Another feature of the invention is to so inclose the alarm mechanism within the door that it will not be visible when the door is closed.

The invention consists in the novel con-v struction and combination of the several parts', as will be hereinafter fully set forth and pointed out in the claims.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification, in which similar figures and letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the l views.

made of any desired number of leaves, graduated as to size, as is customary in 'theconv struction of safe doors. The leaves employed are designated respectively as 10, 11, 12, 13 and 14, 14 being the rear and smallest leaf and 10 the front or largest one. The front leaf 10, is separated some distance from the next inner leaf 11, and the front leaf has a hinge connection with its next inner leaf, as shown in Figs. 1 and 4. The hinge connection is preferably so made that the outer leaf may be raised upward from its lower edge to disclose the forward face of the inner leaf 11, the face of which leaf is illustrated in Fig. 2. To that end studs 15 and 15, are projected respectively from the inner face of the outer leaf 10 and the outer face of the inner leaf 1l near the upper edge, a stud being located near each side, and the opposing studs of the two leaves having a hinge or pivotal connection, as shown at 16 in Fig. 6. Another set of vstuds 17, is projected from the inner face of the outer leaf 10, and the lower studs 17, are adapted to enter sockets 18, produced in the forward face of the inner leaf 11, and a locking engagement is effected between the studs 17 and Ithe leaf 11 by passing through the sides of the leaf and through the studs a pin 19l or its equivalent. A metal plate 20, is located back of the front leaf l0 of the door, and is practically of the same shape and of the same-area as the inner face of said leaf; and the plate 20, is provided with openings through which the studs of the front leaf pass, the plate being free to move upon the studs in a lateral direction. The plate however is held normally practically in engagement with the inner face of thefront leaf 10 by means of springs 21, coiled around both the upper and the lower studs.' A hammer 22, is pivoted upon the forward face of the inner leaf 11 preferably at the central portion thereof, as illustrated in Fig. 2; and the said hammer carries a firing pin 23. A block 24,

IOO

vis held to slide beneath the pincarryingpor tion of thc hammer, and the block 24,has movement in direction of the front and rear of the door in a chamber25 created foritin theleaves 11,12 and 13. The chamber 25,connects with a chamber 26 located at right angles to it, and the chamber 26, is formed in the leaves ll and 'l2 and likewise in a portion of the leaf 13, as illustrated in Fig. 4. The block 24 is provided with a compartment or socket 27, in which a cartridge 28, is adapted to be located, and the cartridge carrying block is moved within and out of its chamber so as to disclose or conceal the cartridge, through the medium of a lever 29, located in the chamber 26 and pivotally connected with the rear end of the block. The lever 29, is normally forced rearward through the medium of a spring 30, and theend of the lever connected with the block is provided with a rearwardly-extending head 29?. The block is normally held by its springcontrolled lever out of the path of the tiring pin of the hammer, and the block occupies this position when the locking bolt of the goor, designated as 3l, is closed, as shown in ig. 5.

The locking bolt is held to slide in a horizontal chamber 32, produced in the rear leaf 14, which chamber extends through one side of the leaf and intersects or joins the chambers 25 and 26. The locking bolt is provided with a head 31 and this head has an inclined surface; and when the bolt is thrown to locking position the inclined surface of its head will ride against the head of the cartridge block lever 29 and force the head portion of the lever forward, and thereby the cartridge block is carried in the same direction and the cartridge is brought under the firing pin of the hammer. A diagonal channel 33, is made in the front surface of the inner leaf 11, as shown in Fig. 2, and the said channel extends back of the hammer 22 near the pivotal point of the latter. Within this channel the lower end of a trip lever 34, is pivoted, and the said lever extends upward back of the hammer, and is provided at or near its center with a stud 35, projecting in a forwardly direction. The trip lever 34, is forced normally forward by means of a spring 36 at its rear, and a recess 37, is made in the under face of the hammer, so that when the hammer is raised to what may be termed a cocked position the recess in the hammer will be immediately over the upper end of the trip lever, and the spring at the back of the lever will force the upper end of the latter into the recess of thehammer, and will maintain the hammer in its upper position against the tension of the spring 38 which bears upon the upper surface of the hammer and is sen cured to the leaf 11 of the door, as is likewise shown in Fig. 2. Thus it is evident that in the event a person should drill through the front leaf of the door, the drill or other tooll employed when coming in contact with the plate 20, which may be termed a trip plate,

will force the plate rearward or inward against the tension of its spring 2l, and the plate by Coming in engagement with the stud 35 of the Trip level' 34 will force the lever inward and therefore carry the lever out of engagement With 'the hammer, permitting the Vspring 38 E0 lCt and cause the tiring pin of the hammer t0 contact with the cartridge and explode the same, thus giving an alarm and likewise serving to frighten the persons tampering with the safe.

The invention is exceedingly simple, it is durable and economic and it may be readily applied to any safe door. The knob spindle 39 is preferably made in jointed sections, as shown in Fig. 1, in order that the front leaf may be carried upward to gain access to the cartridge block to insert a cartridge or to extract an exploded one; and it will be lunderstood that the knob 40 of the spindle may be removed when the frontportion of the door is opened. The bolt is connected with the spindle by means of a pitman 41 or the equivalent thereof.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent- 1. In a -safe door, a block having sliding movement therein and adapted to contain an explosive compound, and operated by the locking bolt of the door, a hammer located adjacent to the cartridge block, a trip lever connected with the hammer, and a trip mechanism adapted for engagement with the lever,

y which trip mechanism is concealed within the door, as and for the purpose set forth.

2. In a safe door, a spring-controlled cai tridge block located therein, a spring-controlled hammer located over the cartridge block, a lever having locking engagement 4with the hammer, and a plate having movement within the door, the plate being located near the front thereof, which plate is adapted to engage with the lever connecting with the hammer and trip said lever, releasing the hammer, as and for the purpose specified.

3. The combination, with a safe door constructed in sections, the sections having a hinge connection, and a trip plate located between the sections, of a cartridge block having movement in one of the sections adjacent to the plate, a spring-controlled hammer located above the cartridge block, a spring-con `trolled lever connected with the cartridge block and adapted to be operated upon by the locking bolt of the door, and a lever having locking engagement with the hammer, which lever is tripped or removed from the hammer when engaged by the said plate, as and for the purpose specified.

4. The combination, with a safe door constructed in sections, the sections being separate and provided with a hinged connection, and a spring-controlled plate located at the back of the forward section and essentially corresponding in area to the area of said section, a spring-controlled cartridge block held IOO IIO

when the plate is forced rearward or inward, as set forth.

FRANK CRAWFORD.

Witnesses:

JESSE F. BARGLAY, MARY CRAWFORD. 

